ANAHEIM AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — Heading into the second round playoff series between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks, a matchup that Southern California hockey fans have been waiting twenty years for, much of the hype focused on the battle between two of the National Hockey League’s best centers, Anze Kopitar of the Kings, and Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks.

Getzlaf is a finalist for this season’s Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s Most Valuable Player, while Kopitar is a finalist for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league’s top defensive forward.

Looking at their offensive numbers, Getzlaf is fifth in playoff scoring with three goals and seven assists for ten points, with a +1 plus/minus rating and six penalty minutes in seven playoff games.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — As the Los Angeles Kings prepared for tonight’s Game 2 of their second round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, they knew that despite winning Game 1, they must play considerably better than they did, if they expect to win Game 2, let alone advance to the Western Conference Finals.

In Game 1, the Kings found themselves hemmed into their own zone by the Ducks for extended periods, much of that caused by their own mistakes.

Former Los Angeles Kings left wing Dustin Penner signed a one-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks on July 16, 2013.
(click to view a larger image).
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES — On July 16, veteran left wing Dustin Penner took his career full circle, returning to where his National Hockey League career began, and to where he won his first Stanley Cup in 2007, signing a one-year contract worth $2 million with the Anaheim Ducks.

That Penner would leave the Los Angeles Kings after a little more than two seasons should not come as a surprise. As previously reported in this space, the $6 million drop in the salary cap for the 2013-14 season has severely hamstrung the Kings. The only way they could have signed Penner was if he was willing to accept a very deep pay cut, deeper than the $1.25 million cut he took to sign with the Ducks.

Despite that, Penner indicated that leaving the Kings was not an easy decision.

LOS ANGELES — Drew Doughty scored a goal and added an assist, and Mike Richards scored a power play goal late in the second period to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in front of a standing room only crowd of 18,473 fans at Staples Center on April 13.

LA Kings left wing Dustin Penner was one of several Kings and
Anaheim Ducks players who participated in a charity game
in Anaheim on December 14, 2012.
(click to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

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